The emergence of a new novella
Today sees the publication of my latest novella, EMERGENCE from US imprint DarkFuse. It is available as an e-book, the first time I've had a book produced with no hard copy. It will be an interesting experiment and I hope both existing readers and folk who've yet to read my stuff will take a chance on it. It's about 18,000 words, is gripping and spooky, and costs only £2 or $3.
I had the idea for this book while strolling along the beach one day. Wouldn't it be interesting, I thought, if an old guy living alone hereabouts woke up one morning and found a number of intricately carved sculptures right across the sand? A little like those amazing examples we've all seen on beaches, but these ones more ... alien, spooky, plain weird. What might such artwork betoken? Who might have created them? These were notions that troubled me for weeks, and the story went underground for a long time, until, maybe a year later, I decided to revisit. The back-brain had done its usual duties, and the story flowed out. I started writing at once and had a first draft a few days later. During the time between conception and production, a small boy, the old guy's grandson, was added to the tale, rendering the whole more emotionally engaging, I hope.
It's a joy working with Dave Thomas over at DarkFuse, who's shown a great deal of enthusiasm for my stuff and has so far bought three novellas (including Lurker, due out in November, and Menace in February 2014). Dave has a real eye for detail and together we've put together what I hope is a compelling piece of cosmic fiction. I sincerely hope readers enjoy it.
Here's a taster of the story:
I had the idea for this book while strolling along the beach one day. Wouldn't it be interesting, I thought, if an old guy living alone hereabouts woke up one morning and found a number of intricately carved sculptures right across the sand? A little like those amazing examples we've all seen on beaches, but these ones more ... alien, spooky, plain weird. What might such artwork betoken? Who might have created them? These were notions that troubled me for weeks, and the story went underground for a long time, until, maybe a year later, I decided to revisit. The back-brain had done its usual duties, and the story flowed out. I started writing at once and had a first draft a few days later. During the time between conception and production, a small boy, the old guy's grandson, was added to the tale, rendering the whole more emotionally engaging, I hope.
It's a joy working with Dave Thomas over at DarkFuse, who's shown a great deal of enthusiasm for my stuff and has so far bought three novellas (including Lurker, due out in November, and Menace in February 2014). Dave has a real eye for detail and together we've put together what I hope is a compelling piece of cosmic fiction. I sincerely hope readers enjoy it.
Here's a taster of the story:
Following the death of his wife, Jack lives alone on the northeast coast of England. But this year, something worse than isolation and loneliness stalk the bay in front of his home. When his grandson Paul comes to stay, they find intricately crafted cones of sand jutting from the beach, and a tautness in the air affecting their sleep patterns. And then something else arrives...something that may want to trouble much more than their dreams. EMERGENCE...they're closer than we fear.
The book can be downloaded...
...and here in the States.
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